The Utah Jazz have three two-way players on their roster right now but which one is the most likely to get action with the team?
The Utah Jazz have 18 players on their team, 15 players on their main roster, and three more under two-way contracts. Of those 15 players, three are on non or partially-guaranteed contracts; Kris Dunn, Luka Samanic, and Omer Yurtseven. Meaning at any point, the Jazz can cut those men and not pay them any, or not all of the money their contracts are set at. It’s possible that for any reason, one, two, or all three of them may be cut at some point this season.
That or they may be involved in a trade. Should they, or anyone else on the 15-man roster, get traded, cut, or injured, the team will call on the two-way players to fill the gap on the roster. As a two-way player, they can’t be signed by anyone else, but they also can’t play more than 50 games.
Meaning that unless the team signs one of the two-way contracts to a full-time deal, the two-way players can only see so much time. So who is on these two-way deals? Right now the team has Micah Potter, a center/power forward out of Wisconsin. Johnny Juzang, a shooting guard out of UCLA, and rookie Joey Hauser out of Michigan State.
Potter is your standard big man, with some three-point touch, while Hauser is more of a perimeter shooter despite being a power forward. And then there’s Juzang, who made big waves in the Summer League for his ability to hit shot after shot.
So in the case that the team is plagued by injury, who is the most likely to see playing time? Let’s just assume in this case, that both the backcourt and frontcourt lose a player, and both Juzang and Potter/Hauser get called up from the G-League.
Which one will likely see more action?
Looking at how off Potter looked at times in the Summer League, he would have to be on fire in the G-League for the Jazz to put him on the back end of a rotation. Hauser has a lot to prove and has the least amount of tangible evidence to support him making the leap to the next level.
Juzang struggled in the NBA last year when he got time with the big club, and it’s possible that he can’t keep up with the best of the NBA, but, he did look great in Summer League. His shot was falling, his consistency was there and he hustled on defense.
If he can duplicate that success in the G-League, then if and when a player goes down in the backcourt, the Utah Jazz may have a guy in Juzang who can come in and provide instant offense.